Fixing Ding In Fork Tube

[zippy]

I had a small ding in my fork tube which gave a sharp edge that would cause my fork seal to fail. I saw a topic on here that suggested epoxy.

Just want to share my method and findings.

I used sets in 5 min epoxy.

Disassemble fork.

Have just the upper fork tube.

Obtain 2000 grit Wet/dry sandpaper

Soak sandpaper with WD-40 and coat fork tube with WD-40

Lightly buff offending sharp edge.

Clean fork tube with brake cleaner, being certain to remove ALL of the oil off the fork tube. Or the epoxy won't stick.

Warm fork tube where the ding is. I used small propane torch, took 3 seconds to warm it up nicely. Heat gun would probably work just as well

Quickly mix clear epoxy

Dribble epoxy into ding

Smooth epoxy with flexible piece of plastic. chunk of the blister pack epoxy came in worked nicely

Wait until epoxy is fully cured. 1 Hour for the stuff I used.

Again buff with the WD-40 and sandpaper until smooth.

Reassembled with fixed ding to the rear. (Also a suggestion from the original thread)

I rode around the yard for 15 minutes and all seems well.

Hopefully it will last forever.

[lee harris]

i doint think it will last for ever, i dont think it ill last long at all. I use clear car laqueur, lasts about 6 weeks

[tombo46]

I used araldite, mixed it up and heated it to make it runny, takes a very long time smoothing it out perfectly. 4 months on, riding about 10 hours a week and so far no problems.

Tom

[kevin j]

have seen 'araldite' referred here several times. What is it? two part epoxy, metal filled epoxy like our JB weld, car body filler, super glue, paint, or something else.??

[alan bechard]

have seen 'araldite' referred here several times. What is it? two part epoxy, metal filled epoxy like our JB weld, car body filler, super glue, paint, or something else.??

Trade name for an Epoxy manufacturer, I think they are Huntsman now.

Kind of like saying a "Crescent Wrench" or I would imagine as most folks use it here like saying I used "loctite, or JB Weld"

http://www.gluguru.com/Epoxies.htm#Araldite2000

[jse]

Again buff with the WD-40 and sandpaper until smooth.

A hint to help keep the tube contour consistant is to wrap the sandpaper on a piece of bar stock or other hard, machined, flat piece of metal and sand around the tube (not in just one spot) rather than lengthwise, kinda like the same reason to use a sanding block rather than fingers. The level sandpaper surface will smooth down just the high ridges rather than make a depression.

I've used SuperGlue with good results and the tubes are fine after several years of use on my TY.

Jon

[peterb]

Hi Kevin J,

Araldite is a 2 part epoxy glue available in 24 hour or 5 minute cure. One part is a liquid epoxy resin, the other is tertiary amine (the hardener) used in equal amounts. It's been around for many years in the UK, NZ and Australia - probably sold under other names in other parts of the world. I have used it for fixing pin holes in crankcases on Villiers motors (I were just a lad) over 30 years ago and all sorts of other difficult fixes, including fork tubes (stanchons) It works well for a long time. It's not a plastic metal type of mix, more of a glue. Araldite was used on the Alta Suzuki that Mart Lampkin rode for a while when he was a bit younger and was used on aircraft.

Jon's point of using a bit of barstock is good engineering practice, remember to use emery paper/cloth rather than sand paper as particles of the sandpaper "grit" can get left behind in the steel and create scoring. Emery is usually aluminium oxide based.

Bye, PeterB.